Anywhere Away From Here
by Envious Sloth
Summary: "You seem to trust me rather easily, so I wouldn't mind telling you: I honestly hate that world outside. I wouldn't want to go out there at all. That's why I would rather spend my time here until the next season; I just want to get away from there. Leave it behind… and just stay in my world instead."


The slam of a door and the lights flashing off means that is all for the season. The end of the show, and the bespectacled girl is almost sad seeing its end. That only means she's going to have to wait for another year to pass on by before she can create a new world to dwell in and enjoy.

… Well, for both her, the new cast, and the boy who survived this season of the killing games. The thought of creating a new world, new characters, and a new story to indulge in just makes her feel a slight buzz. She's already excited for it, and she knows it'll be another fantastic season, especially when she knows at least one of the characters she will make will have so much potential to bring to the show, or perhaps it's how she found her eyes sparkle throughout the show, watching him remain strong and fight his way through the killing games with lights as strong as the sun glistening in his forest green eyes.

That's another thing she's been wondering, too. In the midst of this season of the killing games, she had found herself falling in love with this leafy green haired boy, swooning over his many piercings and falling for his charming chuckle and caring personality. She knows that she had written the season and character to be as such, and her own character was to fall into a cliche relationship with his character, but when she looks at it now, at all the memories she made with him, she could have almost sworn that she actually _is_ in love with him. She is even shocked by her abilities to make someone as entrancing as his character, but there he is, standing before her as the winner of the game alongside her. And all he does is smile and nod at her after it ended. She cannot imagine what will she do with herself until the day she returns to create a new world and story for the both of them.

She adjusts her glasses as she walks slowly over to a couch in the studio and sprawls herself across the soft cushions with a sigh. The boy casually walks after her, eyes following after her; she can feel his eyes on her and it is starting to bother her.

"What's wrong?" The bespectacled girl asks the green haired boy.

The male rubs his arm with a lopsided grin, caught in his staring, "Sorry, I was just surprised is all."

Immediately, the girl with dark blue hair like the ocean on a cold winter day props herself up on her arms and turns her head toward the boy. "Surprised? You find out the truth about that whole world being a lie, and you're 'just surprised'?"

He merely shrugs, "Well… call it a hunch, but I had a nagging suspicion about that world being a fake."

She raises a brow, "Is that so?"

Rubbing the back of his head, the boy chuckles, "I thought it was some stupid thought, but I can't believe it's true… But I have to ask you."

"What is it?" The girl holds the rims of her glasses and adjusts them to the bridge of her nose.

"You don't seem all too happy that it's over," The boy runs his hand from the back of his head down to the crook of his neck.

"But I'm sure you're happy about it, right? Now you can go back to your normie life." She tilts her head and averts her looks, "Well for a short while, of course."

"Hm…" He taps his chin. "That's a good question. _Am_ I happy?"

She shakes her head in disbelief, "What do you mean?"

"You know, I've had that hunch for quite a while that I started to believe in it." He places his hands on his hips. "So, call it bad, but I might have grown a sense of disregard to the whole deal."

"I made _you_ the protagonist of the story? What happened to your bright and strong personality?" The girl continues to shake her head. His words are unlike what she expected, considering how he constantly talks about believing in everyone and all that cliche protagonist shenanigans.

"Just had to play along with my designated role," He spreads his arms out and takes a bow, playfully winking at the girl, which makes the girl quickly turn her head and cross her arms. Once he stands up straight, the boy continues, "Guess I made a unique protagonist compared to the other seasons, no?"

"It's actually quite similar to the 30th season… Maybe a tiny bit like the 42nd season's as well. Or… wait, was it the 33th season's protagonist and the 24th season's —"

"Alright alright I get it, " He raises his hands up in surrender. "But anyways, about what I said: I had a hunch, followed along with it, and I didn't actually mind."

"Wow," The girl replies in a voice void of emotions, "You really do have no heart for your classmates, haven't you?"

He shakes his head, "Didn't think much on it, considering I thought it's all fake…. It's a shame that I was wrong on the stunted deaths."

The girl teases, "So you _do_ have a heart then hm?"

Then he chuckles again. With more attention on him, she finds her heart feeling light in her chest from the lighthearted laugh he emits. Must be from the way she wrote her character.

The boy upholds his toothy grin, "Maybe you're giving me a little too much credit there, but I know I did like being there. It definitely beats coming back out here."

The girl lower her eyes and lays herself back down on the couch, "Yes, you're right about that."

"At least there's no more killings."

"Right."

The boy cocks his brows and slightly turns his head, looking at the reclining girl from the corners of his eyes. He takes just a step closer only to be stopped by the dismissal wave of the girl's hand.

"So why don't you go enjoy your life until the next world?" The girl's arm falls beside her. "You never know what may happen in the next season."

The boy pouts before deciding to ignore the girl's hint and sitting himself on the floor, his back against the couch she lays on. Resting his arm on his bent leg, he turns his head to look at the girl, who holds a solemn look upon her face, glasses slightly disoriented on her face as she stares meaninglessly into the textures of the sofa. "What about you, huh?"

"I'd very much like to stay here until the next season." She closes her eyes and shifts her body a slight bit, pushing herself upward on the couch slightly.

"Which isn't until…"

"Next year. I'm aware."

"And you're going to stay here?" He clarifies.

He can see her eyebrows arch, even from his angle. He gulps and hesitates from regret of taking the wrong steps.

"Yes," She briefly replies, never opening her eyes to look at the boy, but from the shifting of her body once more, it seems like she knows that he was still looking her way.

He too adjusts himself, sitting now with his legs crossed and his hands folded on top of his crossed legs, thumbs fiddling around each other. Nervously he gets the courage to ask, "Why's that? Don't you want to take a break and relax outside?"

"Why would I want to leave here? What's out there that I will enjoy?" She muffles, burying her head further into the cushions. "It's far too plain out there for me."

"Far too plain, huh?" The boy rubs his chin in thought, staring down at his feet.

Quietly, the girl admits, "You seem to trust me rather easily, so I wouldn't mind telling you: I honestly hate that world outside. I wouldn't want to go out there at all. That's why I would rather spend my time here until the next season; I just want to get away from there. Leave it behind… and just stay in my world instead."

Without a word, the boy keeps his head low, running his hand through his messy green hair.

"So, you understand now, right? So, go. Have fun. Or whatever you want," The girl raises her hand and waves again.

Pouting and letting her words sink into his mind, the boy pushes himself up from the ground. He looks back at the lying figure, noting how much of a still doll she looks like; the tangled hair strewn down the couch's edge; the rounded curves of her body against the cushions; all of which he had come to know throughout the season. Somehow, even as she pushes him away, he still feels something pulling him towards her — a string on a pulley that draws him in.

But still, he walks away from her, ignoring those pulls. He rubs the back of his neck and sighs at his actions, but another thought has already taken a place in his mind. He claps his hands together in excitement for the idea. It's perfect. The idea is so vivid in his head that it is like he had already done it — like a clear memory that he just encountered.

He knows what to do for her. At least it'll put his "talent" to some use.

"Where are you taking me?" Her eyes have been closed for quite a while, and her steps forward are uneasy as she is guided by a firm hand holding her own. It doesn't help that the floor too felt uneven and creaks the more she walks.

He chuckles as he turns back towards her, "Don't worry. We're almost there. You trust me, don't you?"

Silently the girl nods. Why she agreed to his demand is a wonder. Days after the season ended, the boy had returned after she brushed him off. He looked like he rushed himself over, drenched in sweat and panting with his hands down on his knees, bent over. He had a hard time forming words to even ask her upfront — constantly having to taking another breath after almost every word, but he managed eventually. She tried to keep her face stoic at his asking, trying to ask more about his wish, but she was quick to give in to the boy's wish with a shrug, a sigh, and a shake of her head. Then, there she is now, with the boy holding her hand happily, blinded for the surprise he had in store for her.

She stumbles a bit in her tracks, but the boy is able to hold her up enough for her to regain her balance. As they continue, she can hear the sound of birds flying high in the air, cawing loudly in unison, but their squawks are washed over by the sound of harsh water waves. She can smell salt in the air.

Suddenly, the firm hand she has been holding stops pulling at her hand, dropping it down.

"Hey, we're here." The boy's voice softens.

Gradually, the girl peeks one of her eyes open through her glasses until she opens both eyes. It is exactly what she had figured from the sounds and smells. On a long, outstretched dock, boats caress the sides of the wooden planks of the deck, tied down by a strong rope; the boats bob in and out of the waters below it. The waters too stretch out far beyond her view and into the horizon. The best of all this view is that she feels a bit surprised at all this, especially when the sun hanging up high in the sky is beaming down to glisten on the waters. It makes everything about the scene shine brightly, and it almost creates a giant halo over the boy before her, as she sees him smiling widely at her.

"How do you like it?" The boy asks, keeping up that smile.

The girl looks back and forth at the scene and toward the horizon, unable to find her words.

Without a word, the boy seems to understand the darting of the girl's eyes around the scene as awe-inspiring. He begins to pull at her hand again, taking her to one of the sides of the dock, toward a small boat with its sails raised.

He lets go of her hand and steps over the side of the boat to stand in the hull. Turning back to the girl still left at the dock, the boy reaches his hand out.

The girl blinks and shakes her head in disbelief at the boat, "Why are you doing all this?"

"You said you wanted to leave this place right?" He reaches his hand out for hers, rings encircle his long fingers. "So do I, and I want to prove that to you." His stance wavers with each tide of the waters beneath the boat, but his smile fails to go along with it, never faltering. He has got her trapped by her own words and desires, and she let him take her away to on the boat of her dreams. A getaway she always wished for.

He leads her onto the boat with one hand and guides her toward the front to sit on the bench against the side of the boat. There are bins against the front of the boat, where the girl can only imagine are the lifesavers and the like. While the girl sits, the boy unties the boat from the rope that keeps it at the dock. Then, the boy sits himself next to a pole that elongates over the end of the boat. With one hand on the wooden stick, he cocks his head to the side and shifts the stick, causing the boat's motor to start, and the boat begins to glide away slowly in the waters.

Immediately, the girl grips the edge of her seat, "Are you sure we should be doing this?"

"Relax," The boy offers a lopsided grin, "You'll like it, I promise."

The girl gulps as she sees the boat get further away from the dock, leaving a scatter of seafoam along its trail. It seems so ethereal to her to actually leave that land behind, seeing it getting smaller and smaller in her sight; she almost forgets to breathe in the moment that they drift away. The wind blows her hair back, as though the lands are trying to grasp onto her to pull her back, but her face is onward toward the horizon, where the sun shines brightly.

For the first time in a long while, she feels something… unusual. A mix of uneasiness but peace at the same time. The running adrenaline of escaping something she's spent so long running from and the overwhelmingness of the view of the sky and sea meeting at the ends of her view. The view alone melts away the tread that lurks upon what she knew the world as, and her eyes are glued to the view.

"Told you you'd like it," The boy continues to smile.

The girl turns back toward the boy. Of course. If it weren't for him, she would not be here. She would not be looking at this beautiful sight. She wouldn't be so far away from the world like now, where her body feels light, as if the strong winds of the sea could blow her away instantly.

The boy leans in toward her, his murky green hair being blown back, "Is that a smile I'm seeing there?"

"Maybe," The girl pouts, "But I can't believe this. Everything… How can the world look so beautiful and peaceful?"

The light of daybreak waver on the waves of the lake, and it is almost too bright to bear for the girl.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" The boy sighs in relief and joy. "Who would have thought the world would be as beautiful?"

"But… how?" The girl questions, unsure in her words. For so long, she has spent trying to get away from the world, now embracing the scene around her. She's trapped in her thoughts that all of the world has belittled to garbage that something like this, she wonders if it is real at all.

"Well," The boy stands up and stretches before walking over to the girl, "The world may be complete shit, but I gotta say that with some memories, there's still some amazing places to see in the world."

The girl hesitantly nods before looking back at the sight. Honestly, something like this she would only expect to see in some corny beach episode of an anime or manga, but seeing it right before her eyes, it's almost too beautiful to understand.

"I know you hate the world, and I do, too, but you deserve some break before the next season instead of stuffing yourself in the studio all day." The boy places a hand on her shoulder. "And with the talent, you've given me, I could show you so many better places than _that_ place. We don't even have to be around people, honest. Let's just have all kinds of adventures before the next season."

"I'll take it."

"What?"

The girl smiles sheepishly, "I don't mind these trips. It's so soothing to me… But I wonder why you would do something like this for me. You know I'm the mastermind for all those killings so… why?"

The boy shrugs, "Consider it a gift for being by my side and getting me, huh?"

The girl turns back to the sea, "I'm happy then."

"Good," The boy sits down next to the girl, leaning on his elbow against the rim of the boat's side. "I'm glad. You even seem more at peace here, you know."

"I'm so glad I wrote your talent like this," The girl giggles. "It's like being whisked away by a captivating prince… or maybe a pirate works better."

"Hey hey," The boy waves his hands, "I'm not suspicious looking enough to be a pirate… but maybe a prince works."

Immediately the girl looks down, feeling her face grow hot at his casual response.

"Whatever the case, you really are the Ultimate Adventurer, aren't you?" She slightly turns to the boy.

"Of course," He smiles, leaning toward her face, "And I'd be happy to take you anywhere if you'd like. Anywhere away from here."

The girl's lips waver in a smile at how close he is to her face, but she gives in easily. His surprisingly soft and smooth lips against her own soft lips. It's just a soft peck on the lips, but his lips leave a ghosting presence upon her lips that make her wish for more. More of this memory, more of this scenery that seems far too cliche. More of all this time with this boy that she has come to realize she _actually_ had feelings for. None of the feelings she is having are those written for her. It is her genuine feelings beyond scripts and stories. She's actually in love with _him_.

That's when she realizes she has to spend as much time as she can with him now. He's going to disappear soon with the memory wipe for the upcoming season. She doesn't want to let him go, not when he knows and understands her so well. She finally has someone that wants the same thing as she does. She dreads for those moments of erasure to come, but for now, even for a short while, she can make some good memories for her to remember him by. The great Ultimate Adventurer, her romantic lover.


End file.
